Sophomore
by The-Team-Titans-Writers
Summary: This is an AU story, written by TriforceLink205 and JodieJelloCube, it covers Rachel Roth, the new girl, as she deals with her sophomore year at a new school, and how the first person she meets might just be the one who breaks her shy facade. T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is another story from The Team Titans Writers, but only two of us this time, we figured it made more sense to just put our collaborations, no matter how many members work on it, on the Team's page. Anyways, this is an AU story, probably gonna be a little clichéd, but what are you gonna do? So anyways, this is by me (TriforceLink205), and JodieJelloCube. **** Give her a round of applause for further going out of her comfort zone writing wise! **** Here you go!**

* * *

Rachel Roth sighed as she got out of the shower; getting ready for her first day at the new school.

The reason? Her parents were having another apocalypse fight, this time about her.

"Why does she need to transfer? It was just a boy! Can't she go back there? She shouldn't have to transfer because of boy troubles!" Her father yelled.

"Because, Trenton, he almost raped her! Do you even understand that?!"

"Yeah, I get it, but it's not like he did anything to her!"

"Are you kidding me?! Do you even hear yourself right now?! This is ridiculous! She's already been transferred, it's not like you can do anything about it."

"You mean you did it without me?"

"Yes. I did. I was sick of your crap, so I took matters into my own hands."

Rachel sighed again as she was applying the last of her eye liner, she made a mental note to get some more after school and grabbed her bag, walking down the stairs.

"You know, some parents have the decency to wait until their kid's gone to fight about her," She stated in her usual indifferent monotone.

"Oh honey, I'm sorry, we didn't mean to upset you," Her mother tried to console her, to no avail.

"Can we just go? I want to get this day over with."

"Yeah, let's go."

-We're at the school now; I didn't feel like writing an awkward car ride. :P-

"Alright sweetheart, do you need me to go in there with you?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

After a small pause, her mother sighed and put the car in gear.

"I love you Rachel, try to have a good day, ok?"

"Sure."

Her mother sighed and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Well, I guess you have to walk in to get out…"

She sighed once more as she entered the building, finding her way to the principal's office, because she didn't know where else to go.

"Do you need something?" The secretary asked as she walked in.

"Yes, I'm a new student here, Rachel Roth; I don't know where I'm supposed to be going…"

"Ah yes, hold on a moment. Feel free to have a seat, while you wait."

The secretary walked into the room behind her, coming out a few minutes later with some papers, handing them to Rachel.

"Now, your mother has already gotten all of the paperwork taken care of, but you might find these useful."

The papers were a class schedule, and a map.

Rachel smiled as she thanked the secretary as she left the room, grunting as she was knocked to the floor.

"Ow! Care to look where you're going next time?" She asked angrily, fumbling around for the papers and books that spilled out of her backpack when she fell.

"Sorry, I'm late for class, I wasn't really paying attention…"

She huffed as she got up, looking at the boy who knocked her down, green Converse, blue jeans, a hunter green dress shirt with a purple tie, and jade eyes… Wow, those eyes… She couldn't remember what she was doing anymore.

"I'm Gar, Gar Logan," He said, smiling and holding out his hand.

She looked at the hand, then at the stack of books and papers in her arms, then back at him, raising an eyebrow.

He chuckled, withdrawing his hand and scratching the back of his head.

"Would you like some help? It's the least I could do."

"Aren't you late for class?"

She yelped as he reached out and grabbed the papers from the stack, rifling through until he found her schedule.

"Well, my next class in yours too, so I think I'll be ok."

"Alright, well, I guess you can help me."

He smiled, taking the entire stack from her and starting off down the hallway.

"Hey, I said help, not do it for me!"

"Chivalry isn't dead."

She sighed once again, falling in stride beside him.

"My name's Rachel, by the way. Rachel Roth."

* * *

**Alright, so there you have it! **** Now, I know it's a little short, but I've been battling writer's block for a while, so I'm just glad to have written it, and I like it. **** I hope you do too, and Jodie has the next chapter, so wish her luck, and in theater jargon, break a leg! **** By the way, R&R please?**

**TL205, out, PEACE!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alrighty guys! I wanted to write something cliché, but not too cliché as too be unoriginal. I asked TriforceLink205 to collab, and he said yes. Basically, anyone who's familiar with my work knows that I tend to sway toward angst and heady character pieces more so than actual plot. But, I've always wanted to do a High School AU, but I knew that I'd never complete one alone. So, here we are.**

**You may have to forgive the suckiness of this chapter because I am so hungover there are no words. I got my first tattoo yesterday and went out drinking to celebrate and all I remember is karaoke, grinding behind some big muscly guy when he wasn't looking, and laughing when the bouncer told me that Christine had broken her leg because I thought she was joking. Whoops!**

**Currently tanning/drinking in my garden with Rhysy!**

Garfield Mark Logan was an enthusiastic boy by nature, but not strictly enthusiastic in a positive way. He was enthusiastic in that he was passionate, passionate about things that many others didn't understand, or didn't have time for or simply were not interested in. He committed whole heartedly and more often than not, too quickly, resulting in far too many let-downs for a boy of his ripe age.

One thing that made him distinctive among the vast throng of teenagers around was that his smile very rarely faltered, though of course that didn't automatically mean that it was real. He was passionate about people, and made an effort to say 'good morning' or 'how are you?' with whomever he made eye-contact.

He had easy relationships with his adoptive parents. He loved and respected them dearly, but they were busy, his father being Steve Dayton, president of 'Tune Patrol' record publishing, and his mother being Rita Farr-Dayton columnist and advice-giver for 'Woman's Life' magazine. This meant that not only did Gar have a lot of time to himself, but he also had a large, luxurious home. The problem was that Gar didn't want to tell people who his parents were, for fear they'd only spent time with him because of his wealth and contacts.

Very few people had come around to the Dayton household and Gar had been a lonely child, and so in school he was exuberant and talkative and friendly because he relished the social interaction, and though some people found him to be slightly irritating, he was simply too nice of a boy to be rude to.

He'd had a late night attending a gala of some-sort with his parents the night before and he rushed through the near-vacant school corridors, desperate to reach his class before he got a late mark, despite the fact he knew it was a fruitless effort. It was during this preoccupation that he mercilessly collided with a girl he'd never laid eyes upon before.

The first thing he noticed was that her eyes were the most peculiar shade of grey with a purple hue. Her hair was also distinctive, coming to between her chin and shoulders, ebony with a short, choppy, uneven fringe that gave her an elfin appearance, in his opinion. Her skin was unblemished and ghostly pale but reminded him of pearls and silk.

He cleared his throat before voicing his apology and introducing himself. It didn't take long to discover that she was in much the same position that he was, class-wise. They quickly made their way towards the lesson that they were steadily missing more and more of, and Gar could never be silent for long.

"Where are you from?" He asked cheerily, figuring that that seemed to be a relevant and non-personal question.

He watched as she fluctuated and his brows furrowed and pulled together. That inquiry had seemed innocent enough. Eventually her soft voice stuttered over her answer.

"Steel City…" she breathed.

He nodded to himself, familiar with the name. Before he could speak again, they had come to the classroom door. They stepped through, Garfield holding the door for her. The teacher and other students were silent as they regarded them, and as Rachel became fully visible the murmurings started. Garfield gave a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck gingerly.

"Sorry we're late. I ran into Rachel here at the office and thought I'd walk her here." Gar said smoothly.

It was only after he'd finished speaking that he realised that it sounded like he was using Rachel as an excuse to get himself out of trouble. He bit his lip as the teacher dealt with Rachel and he took his seat. As he looked back, he saw how she glared at him.

**Sorry, that's all I've got!**


	3. Chapter 3

**So, I wrote a really dark one-shot… Go check it out please? It's called Raven?, and I know it's unusual to start off an author's note with a plug, but I thought I would mention it, because it's a milestone in my writing style. Anyways, I got the email saying that chapter two had been posted like two weeks ago, and I'm like, "Oh, that's cool.", and as I was falling asleep like last friday, I realized that I had the next chapter… :P Oops! Well here's the chapter. :P Jodie and I don't own anything. But she has a nightwing shirt, and I have a Green Lantern shirt. :P**

* * *

When school let out, Gar started searching the crowd for Rachel.

"Rachel? Rachel, there you are, I've been looking for you for like, ten minutes. I'm sorry about class today, I was just talking without thinking and… I'm sorry."

No reply.

"Um… Rachel…?"

Still no reply.

Gar reached out to touch her on the shoulder, and right before he did, she looked up and glared at him.

"Woah… Look, I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry, I didn't mean to say it the way I did…"

She just huffed and turned away.

He sighed and looked around for a minute, noticing that almost everyone else was now gone.

"Are you… Are you waiting for someone?"

She looked up at him, deciding whether or not she should speak to him.

"My mom. She said she would be here by three fifteen."

Gar glanced at his watch; it was almost three forty five.

"Do you want me to take you home? As kind of an apology for not thinking before I speak?"

"You've apologized four times already Gar… But I'll take the ride."

He smiled at her, taking her hand a walking with her to his car.

"So, why didn't you just call your mom?"

"Well, we don't have cell phones, my dad doesn't like them."

"He doesn't like them? That's… interesting…"

"It's weird, just say it. I know it is, what's even weirder about it, is that before I changed schools, we had them, and he only took them away a couple of days ago."

Gar pondered this a moment before hearing Rachel clear her throat.

"Hm?"

"We're at what I assume is your car."

Turning his head, he saw that they were, indeed in front of his car.

"Heh, so we are."

He walked to the passenger side door, opening it for her, then walked around to the driver's side and got in.

While they were driving, she had to inquire.

"Gar, why is your car such an obnoxious shade of green?"

He chuckled.

"It's never been called obnoxious before. Green is my favorite color."

Glancing up and down his body, she snorted.

"Didn't notice."

"Well, I'm kind of getting mixed signals from your wardrobe choice."

"It's purple. I'm wearing three shades of purple."

"Ah. So, is this your house?"

He slows down, coming to a stop in front of a sizable house, with an equally large yard.

"Yeah, I know, it's kind of big…"

"Actually, it's quaint, compared to what I'm used to."

She turned and stared at him.

"You might want to close your eyes Rach, you'll catch flies."

She snapped her mouth shut.

"Quaint?! I'm sorry, but how is this quaint?"

"My adoptive father is Steve Dayton."

Her eyes were almost bugging out of her head.

"St-Steve Dayton?!"

"Yep."

"Like Tune Patrol Records Steve Dayton?!"

"Yes."

She could only blink a few times.

"So, what about you?"

"What?"

"What does your dad do? If you don't mind my asking."

"Uh… He's an insurance salesman."

"That's actually nice. I wish my dad had a job like that."

"Well, you probably don't wish you had a dad like mine."

"At least yours is around."

She paused for a moment, then grabbed his hand.

"Do you wanna hang out sometime?"

Glancing down at their intertwined hands, he grinned a little.

"Didn't we just hang out?"

"No, we went for a car ride. To my house. I want to actually hang out."

He thought for a moment.

"Ask your parents if you can go out tonight?"

She jumped a little bit.

"Tonight?"

"Yep."

"Isn't that a little short notice?"

"I still have an idiot mistake to make up for. The least I can do is buy you dinner and a movie."

She looked at him thoughtfully for a second.

"I'll be right back."

She ran into the house, and a minute or two later ran back out, in a completely different outfit.

"Wow, you changed fast…"

"I was excited."

"I guess."

"So, you asked me out."

"Yep."

"And we have the whole afternoon."

"Sure do."

"What do you wanna do?"

"I have no idea."

Smiling, he put the car in gear, and they drove off.

* * *

**Ok, so this took forever for me to write, I even rewrote part of it, and I've never done that before… I hope you liked it, I know it was kinda weak, but I wanted to give Jodie a little bit of romance and fluffy stuff to work with, since that's what I usually do, and not what she does. I'm helping her, remember? :P Anyways, R&R please?!**

**TL205 out, PEACE!**


	4. Chapter 4

_I am really sorry that this has taken so long. But, I'd rather give it to you now in this condition than the shit quality I would've presented had I forced myself to write this before. Basically, shit happened. But, what's important to remember is that I saw Kings of Leon on Wednesday and they are my ultimate favourite band._

Rachel Roth was certainly not the kind of girl to run off with strangers. Actually, Rachel seldom thought about relationships of any kind, and definitely was not interested in romantic endeavours. She was a logical thinker, and boiling everything down to whether or not personal gain was a factor, stopped her from getting hurt. She'd accepted his ride home because she'd needed one, and he'd seemed harmless enough; simple as that.

It was incredibly out of character for Rachel to rush off with a boy she'd known less than 8 hours, but in all honestly, her thought process had very much been that it was either spend the evening with Garfield, or sit in her room and listen to her parents argue. The arguing was tiresome and made her miserable, so Garfield was the greatest option for her best interest.

"So, whatcha wanna do, Rae? Where'd you wanna go?" Garfield asked with a little too much enthusiasm.

He used her driveway to turn his car around before speeding off. Rachel briefly wondered how he'd known where she lived without her having said anything, but it didn't take her long to realise that the entire city probably knew about her arrival. She nearly groaned at the thought. Jump City was pretty small by city standards, but the community seemed even smaller with how tight-knit it was.

Very few people knew who Gar's adopted parents were because their manor was a ways outside the city border and incredibly well-guarded, also Gar had kept his own surname, so there was no way for anyone to make any connections. Plus, Mr and Mrs Dayton were both overly private people who promoted their works but didn't broadcast their lives, and Garfield never attended any event that was swarming with paparazzi and media, he didn't like them. He didn't want to be their next big scoop.

Gar usually kept his secret as well guarded as the home he resided in, but for whatever reason he felt the impulse to tell her. He hadn't quite meant for it to sound like he was bragging, but Rachel's response to his comment regarding her house was the most emotion he'd seen from her since their meeting, and he wanted to keep the conversation rolling. He found he wanted to know her, and before he knew it he was telling her about him. He never could keep his mouth shut.

Rachel was more than a little surprised to find out she was sat alongside the heir to Tune Patrol records. Rachel loved music, and though she didn't invest a lot of her time in fawning over celebrities and media reports, she certainly knew who Steve Dayton was. She actually admired him for his continuous efforts in keeping variety in his label, making sure no two acts were alike and every performer attended to more than a single genre. Rachel had not even been aware that Mr Dayton was married, let alone had adopted a son. Then again, Rachel was only ever interested in the music. She'd always assumed Mr Dayton was a 'married to his work' guy, simply because he always seemed to be doing something for his business, and never was anything reported about personal life.

"I don't know. Some place quiet. Is there a decent coffee shop around here?" Rachel inquired. She got the feeling that 'quiet' wasn't exactly Gar's forte, but between the stress of her first day at a new school at the dread that was currently pitting into her stomach as she anticipated her return home to her parents tantrums, she was eager for some peace.

"Uh, sure." Gar replied a little perplexed. He'd felt bad for giving her the wrong impression earlier in class and was fully intending on making it up to her with whatever she wanted.

He was prepared to go all out, a 3 course meal and a movie or a trip to the fairground later if she'd wanted. He'd expected her to ask for that, especially after she was made aware of his wealth. But, no, she wanted to go get coffee. On the one hand, it was a relief to him that she wasn't going to take advantage of his fortune, and it was refreshing to find someone who had an obvious preference for the simpler things. But, on the other hand, he found himself worrying that she only wanted to get a cup of coffee because it was innocent, it was safe. Gar wondered if perhaps she didn't really want to be there with him. His insecurities convinced him that her decision was somehow about him, and that it wasn't a good thing.

There were, of course, a variety of quaint coffee shops within the city. Gar decided on one that was considerably more popular than the others, it was comfortable and often full of people chattering away on the large sofas, it was decidedly intimate in setting and they had great quality product. He wanted to talk with her some more, and this was a place that talking was definitely an option, they wouldn't be overheard, they wouldn't be sat in the awkward silence of an otherwise empty establishment, and Rachel was getting exactly what she wanted at the same time.

"A chai tea latte, please." Rachel requested of the barista, a boy perhaps no more than a year their senior with severe acne. In Garfield's opinion, he was being a little more than friendly towards Rachel, but she seemed oblivious.

Garfield ordered a mango and passion fruit smoothie for himself and scowled at their server the whole while, the boy didn't notice, too transfixed was he with Rachel. Soon enough they were given their drinks and Gar was surprised by the vast amount of sugar Rachel added to hers, having not expected her to have such a sweet tooth.

They nestled themselves down in the back corner, and they sunk down opposite each other in the large, over-padded sofas. Rachel took a great sip from her steaming cup and gave a dreamy sigh as the sweet and spicy flavour danced across her tongue. Garfield watched her curiously. His life had been very fast paced, the entire city ran on a go, go, go mentality and seeing someone take such pleasure from a simple moment of relative nothingness was fascinating to him. Everyone else always had to be somewhere or meet someone or do something, they always needed to keep moving, like sharks that would drown if they were to stop. People had long ago forgotten how to appreciate. He had a feeling Rachel was going to be good for him; he planned on keeping her around.


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright guys, I haven't written anything on here in a while, so I'm a little rusty. Had a busy couple of weeks, moved into a new house with my best friend (LRonanSkyeK), started college, and got a job (Which I just got fired from today, honestly, my boss was a real jerk.), so I've just been nonstop busy for about two months. Anyways, I'm done making excuses, and now I'm writing. :P**

**As always, JoJo and I, nor any of the rest of the Team, own nothing but our ideas.**

* * *

Sitting in the coffee shop, Rachel watched Gar as he tried to make conversation with her.

She was trying to figure out why he acted so… excited, all the time; he hadn't really stopped drilling her with questions and information since they'd sat down, and all he would do after he asked her something was wait with those big, green eyes until she was transfixed enough to answer with a nod or an "mm-hm," but right now he was asking her if she was interested in drama or reading or music as hobbies, trying to find out anything he could about her.

"Um, Rae?" He asked, suddenly realizing that she wasn't completely listening to him.

She jumped a little bit, then recovered with a "Hm?"

"I asked you what kind of music you like to listen to."

"Oh, well, I like Nervana, and I'm a huge fan of Kings of Leon."

"Really?! I love Kings of Leon!"

She raised an eyebrow at this; it seemed they had something in common.

"Alright, how about drama; do you like to act?"

She replied with a shake of the head, to enveloped was she in her tea at the moment.

"Oh, well, do you like to watch plays?"

"Sometimes," she said thoughtfully, "Although I'm not a huge fan of musicals, I do like a good mystery once in a while, and rarely, a comedy."

He smiled at this, "So if I got you tickets to see, say, Arsenic and Old Lace, you might be talked into going?"

She pondered this a moment, sipping her tea to buy herself some time.

"I might, as long as I don't have to dress up. I like my jeans."

He chuckled a bit, but nodded. "Alright, you don't have to dress up, but I have one condition."

"Um, last time I checked, you were the one asking me on a date, so the conditions should be mine to give."

He smiled. "Well you just agreed to my condition."

"Oh? What was it then?"

"That you be my date."

She grinned into her tea. "Yeah, alright, I'll be your date, but I'm not your girlfriend."

"That's fine, I just want to spend more time with you, being my girlfriend comes later," he said with mischief in his eyes.

"You know, you're a brat."

"What, me? What a thing to say!"

"Well, I'm blunt, if you're trying to get me to be your girlfriend, that's something you'll have to know about me, if you don't like blunt, harsh truth, then forget about it right now."

He pretended to think for a moment.

"So… How many dates do I have to take you on before you're my girlfriend?"

She giggled, her face flushing red and her ears burning as she took a too big gulp of her tea, choking on it a moment before she swallowed and recovered.

Coughing, she said, "Fifty."

He thought for a second. "So can I just drop you off at your house and pick you right up? Or do these have to be legit dates?"

"Well, how about this instead; I'll put you on a point system, if the date is rather good, you can get up to five points, given my discretion, and you have to earn one hundred points to earn the right of being called my boyfriend."

He grinned at her, a sweet, charming smile, and stuck his hand out.

She took it, smiling as well, half wondering what she had just gotten herself into, and half wondering how quickly he would earn those points…

* * *

**Alright… So, yeah… I honestly put way more fluff into that one chapter than I've put into any of my stories in a long time, but I liked it, I'm just glad to have written the stupid chapter, I've been so busy recently that Writer's Block doesn't even begin to describe the affliction I had been sick with when it came to literature. :P Anyways, R&R please! And wish JoJo luck with the next chapter!**

**TL205, out, PEACE!**


End file.
